Print

Mail

wiki links

UMP set to win French election

French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked set to win a sweeping mandate for his ambitious program of reforms yesterday, as the French went back to the polls to elect a new National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament.

In the second round of the country's legislative elections, some 35 million registered voters began choosing deputies in the 467 constituencies where there was no winner in the first round a week ago.

Opinions polls are unanimous in predicting Sarkozy's center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) a big victory over the Socialist Party (PS), and the only doubt is likely to be over the extent of its majority in the newly elected assembly.

Both parties urged voters to turn out in force in order to bring down the record abstention rate -- 39.6 percent -- of June 10. It is France's fourth national vote in less than two months, and the country is showing clear signs of election weariness.

Elected on May 6 over the Socialist Segolene Royal, Sarkozy wants a large enough majority in the legislature to maintain the political momentum behind his promised reforms.

He has pledged to summon a special session of the National Assembly next month in order to push through the first stage of his program, which will include key changes to the tax system meant to encourage the French to work harder.

Demoralized and deeply divided over Royal's defeat, the PS seems resigned to another five years in opposition and its campaign has focused mainly on warning against a too large UMP majority.

Opinion polls suggested the UMP and its ally the New Centre will win between 405 and 435 seats in the 577 member assembly, with the PS getting at most 170. Of the 110 seats decided in round one, all but one were for the UMP or its allies.

As the UMP already controls the legislature, it would be the first time since 1978 that a ruling party has retained its majority -- a sure sign that Sarkozy's claim to represent a "clean break" from the past is widely accepted.

The PS currently has 149 seats and will regard it as a success if it can retain all these or even take a few more. If it falls to below 100, there are likely to be immediate calls for heads to roll.

The biggest losers in the election are likely to be the small parties, as the new assembly looks set to be dominated by the UMP-PS divide.

The Communist Party, once France's largest, is set to lose several of its current 21 seats and will not have enough to form a parliamentary bloc. The Greens will have three at most, and the far-right National Front once again none, according to polls.

The third-placed presidential candidate Francois Bayrou also looks set to lose the gamble he took when he created a new center party Modem last month and broke with Sarkozy's UMP. He may well be the only Modem deputy to win a seat.
This story has been viewed 1147 times.